Burner wick



Deck. 4, 1928.

A. HELDRICH BURNER WI GK Filed Aug. 15

Fatented Dec. '4, 1928.

AltDEE-W HELDRICH, 0F BRUNSWICK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIG'NUTJ EU A'MEEICAN 12$ CUBATOR-MANUFACTURING C(l, INC., A CQEPUEATIQN 01? NEW" JERSEY.

BURNER WEEK.

Application filed August 15, 19%.

My invention relates particularly to that class of wicks or lighting rings that are formed of fabricated material, such as asbestos, and preferably comprising an annulus partially submerged in a reservoir of oil,,alcohol or the like, and is especially directed to that type of flame supporting wicks that are provided with means arranged to reduce the capillary action, and thereby tend to retard the flow of the fuel therethrough.

In wicks or lighting rings of the type heretofore employed the flame when turned low or reduced, will drawmore oil or fuel and generate more vapor than can be readily consumed by the flame when so lowered or re duced, and therefore free gaseor vapor is discharged into the room, which is injurious to both animal and vegetable life.

The principal objects of my invention are to provide a burner wick or flame-ring that will avoid the difficulties noted and afford 'a wide range of adjustment whereby a saving of fuel consumption is efiected through the ability to maintain a low flame, and whereby a substantially perfect combustion is obtained when burning a high fiame.

Other objects of my invention are to provide a burnerv wick or flame-ring that is so constructed as to, in efiect, so reduce the capillary attraction of the texture of said flame-ring that the passage of fuel therethrough will be materially retarded. i

My invention f-urther comprehends a burner wick or flame-ring having its opposite edges of relatively different thickness or density of body, and so constructed as to be readily reversed to produce flames of correspondingly different volume.

My invention includes a burner wick or flame-ring which not only approaches a maximum of efficiency, but which, by reason of such efficiency, materially extends its period of usefulness.

Specifically stated, one form of my invention as hereinafter described comprises a fabricated wick structure formed of woven strands of wire and a fibrous textile material, such'as asbestos, forming a strip which may be conveniently formed into an annulus. having a medial zone free from said fibrous textile material and comprising reticulated wire mesh having relatively less capillary attrac- Serial No. 732,150.

tion than said fibrous material, and consequently serving to retard the upward flow of fuel therethrough, said fabricated wick struc-. ture being, if desired, of relatively difierent thickness upon opposite sides of said medial zone of open wire wesh.

My invention alsoincludes all of the various novel features of construction and arrangement as hereinafter more definitely specified.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a fragment of the strip of fabricated material from which one embodiment of the Wick or flame-ring may be formed; Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical sectional View of the strip of fabric shown in Fig. 1 taken on the line 2-2 in said figure;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a fragment of the wire weft strands of the fabric, or the vertical strands of the wick or flame-ring; Fig. 4: is a perspective view of a fragment of the warp strands of the fabric, or the horizontally disposed strands of said wick or flame-ring; Fig. 5 is a central vertical sectional view of a convenient form of burner cup or fuel reservoir with which the form of wick orflame-ring contemplated may be advantageously employed, said flame-ring being shown therein with its thinner edge extended upwardly to supportthe flame; Fig. 6 is a View similar to that shown in Fig. 5 except that the wick or flame-ring is so disposed that its thicker edge is extended upwardly to support the flame; and Fig. 7 is a transverse vertical sectional view similar to Fig. 2, but showing the wick or flame-ring of uniform thickness upon opposite sides of the constricted zone.

The wick or flame-ring fabric as best shown in Figs. 1 and 2 is formed of warp strands comprising the wire core 7 and the fibrous covering '8 which may best be composed of asbestos preferably twisted thereon, as shown in Fig. 4-, and weft strands comprising the uncovered or bare wire 9, which may be composed of two or more wires twisted together as shown in Fig. 3, or may be a single wire.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the strip forming the flame-ring fabric is provided with a'medial zone 10 wherein the warp strands 12 are, like the weft strands, comgap in the fabric, separating the upper fibrous portion from the lower fibrous port on, so that the capillary attraction by which liquid fuel is fed to the flame supporting edge is materially reduced.

Although it will be obvious that such a wick or flame-ring may be of uniform thickness throughout its extent, save for the open gap at the medial zone 10. said flame-ring is preferably forn'ied, as best shown in Fig. 2, with its fibrous textile portions 15 and 16 of relatively difl'erent thickness or density, which may be produced by adding more strands to form the thicker portion or by providing strands having relatively more fibrous material twisted thereon.

As shown in Figs. 5 and 6 the burner cup 20 is formed to provide the annular fuel reservoir 21 having the open mouth 22 at the top and having its bottom wall connected with the inlet conduit or pipe 23, which is arranged to feed fuel 25, from a suitable source of supply, into said annular reservoir 21 through suitably provided apertures 26, the fuel level in said reservoir being controlled by any convenient and well known means, which need not be herein illustrated.

As shown in Fig. 5 the flame-ring may be rested upon the bottom of the annular reservoir 21 with its thinner portion, 15 projecting upward through the mouth 22 of the burner, thereby presenting its flame supporting edge 27 in operative position to carry the restricted flame 30 of minimum magnitude when the level 31 of the fuel is disposed below the open zone 10 of theflame-ring, as shown in said figure.

As shown in Fig. 6 the flame-ring is inverted with the thicker portion 16 projecting through the mouth 22 of the burner, so as to carry the flame 35 of maximum magnitude when the level 36 of the fuel 25 is disposed above the open zone 10 of the flame-ring, as shown in said figure.

It will be obvious that the magnitude or intensity of the flame may be varied between the minimum and maximum volumes thus described. by varying the level of the fuel in the annular reservoir; for instance, should the level of the fuel, shown in Fig. 5, be raised to the level indicated by the dot and dash line 37, or above the restricted or open zone 10, the intensity of the flame will naturally be increased. If however, the level of the fuel shown .in Fig. 6-be lowered to the level indicated by the dot and dash line 39, or below the restricted or open zone 10, the intensity'of the flame will be decreased.

My invention is advantageous in that a wick or flame-ring constructed accordingly may be caused to support flames having widely different characteristics, such as a higher or lower flame and a heavier or lighter, flame as desired, and by reason of this flexibility of adjustment, substantially perfect combustion with a consequent saving of fuel is attained.

It may be here noted that. although 1 have shown and described a \vick or flame-ring having its edge portions or relatively different thicknesses extended uniformly upon opposite sides of amedial open zone. or zone free from fibrous texture, similar results may be obtained by providing warp strands of relatively different gauge or diameter successively arranged to gradually increase the thickness of the wick orflame-ring from one edge to the other, or the flamering may be formed of uniform thickness, or the open zone may be disposed at relatively different distances from the opposite edges, or there may be a plurality of such zones; therefore, I do not desire to limit my invention to the precise details of construction and arrangement as herein set forth, as it is obvious that various modifications may be made therein without departing from the essential features of my invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A wick or flame-ring formed of fabricated strands relatively crossed and respectively composed of fibrous and nonfibrous material, the fabricated structure having a zone free from said fibrous material, arranged to retard the flow of fuel therethrough.

2. A wick or flame-ring formed of fabricated strands, the strands disposed in the direction of flow of fuel therethrough being of wire, and the relatively transverse strands being fibrous and having absorptive properties, the structure thus formed having a zone free from said fibrous strands, arranged to retard the flow of fuel therethrough.

3. As a new article of manufacture, a wick orflame-ring formed of a fabricated strip comprising spaced zones joined by a connection having less absorptive properties than either of said zones and arranged to retard'the flow of fuel through the wick.

4. A strip of fabricated material, comprising sets of warp strands of fibrous material, separated by warp strands of wire, and weft strands of wire binding said warp strands into relatively separated longitudinally disposed areas connected by reticulated wire mesh.

5. A strip of fabricated material comprising sets of warp strands of fibrous material, of relatively different gauge, separated by warp strands of wire, and weft strands of wire serving as a binder for said warp strands and connecting the relatively separated areas of fibrous fabric of different thicknesses by a reticulated wire mesh.

6. As a new article of manufacture a wick for use in burners adapted to operate with naeaooe.

combustible liquids, which wick has two zones of absorbent character located one above the other and completely separated by an intermediate zone composed entirely of materials of non-absorbent character. 7

7. An article such as set out in claim 6 in which the absorbent zones are composed of interwoven textile fibre and metal wire, and the non-absorbent zone is composed of wire alone.

8. As a new article of manufacture a woven wick for use in burners adapted to operate with combustible liquids, the woof thread of which wick is bare wire, while the warp threads adjacent each edge are formed of wire covered with textile fibre, and certain.

of the central warp threads are formed of bare wire.

9. As a new article ofmanufacture, a wick or flame ring comprising spaced fibrous zones connected by a non-fibrous zone of reticulated wire mesh.

10. The combination with a burner for combustible liquid and means for adjusting the level of the liquid thereir of a wick in ANDREW HELDRlGI-l. 

